AWWA has been awarded competitive grants from both the states of Maine and New Hampshire to address chronic private and public road issues that are causing pollution to reach Lovell, Great East, and Wilson lakes. These grants will also support septic and road socials, Youth Conservation Corps and Clean Lakes Campaign activities with the lake associations.

This project is part of the implementation plan for the "Salmon Falls Headwater Lakes Watershed Management Plan" and will result in measurable pollution reductions.

Funding for this project was provided in part by Watershed Assistance Grants from the NH Department of Environmental Services and the ME Department of Environmental Protection with Clean Water Act Section 319 funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Towns, private foundations, businesses and individuals provide the necessary local matching funds.

Salmon Falls watershed event draws leaders, landowners

By Virginia Long

Moose Mountains Regional Greenways director

Sunday, November 27, 2011

ROCHESTER — More than 90 community leaders and landowners attended a recent program titled "Your Land, Clean Water, Your Legacy" at the Governor's Inn. The panel discussion and social hour were presented by the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative and the NH Association of Conservation Districts, as well as several regional nonprofit organizations, including the Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, and the Strafford Rivers Conservancy, with assistance from UNH Cooperative Extension.

The Piscataqua/Salmon Falls Watershed was recently identified by the US Forest Service as the watershed most at risk in the U.S. to suffer a reduction in water quality due to potential loss of forested land to development within the next 20 years. Program participants heard from a panel of local landowners, foresters, and staff of state and regional conservation organizations about proven practices that can protect the water quality of the Salmon Falls Watershed. Such practices are completely voluntary and can be implemented with financial and technical assistance that is available from nonprofit, town, county, state and federal sources.

Linda Schier, executive director of the Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance, welcomed the audience, gave an overview of the Salmon Falls watershed and introduced the panel of speakers and the exhibiting organizations.

She pointed out that the 330 square mile Salmon Falls Watershed, encompassing towns in Maine and New Hampshire, provided drinking water for 28,000 people in the Somersworth and Berwick, Maine areas. Schier also noted that three of Wakefield's five lakes that drain into the Salmon Falls River are currently at risk of losing their high quality water status.

LaMarr Clannon, coordinator for Maine Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials, set the stage with a discussion of the connections between water quality and forestry management. She gave specific examples of how water pollution results from poor land management practices and how good management preserves water quality.

She also noted that one form of pollution is temperature rise, as occurs when rain falls on hot parking lots and then drains into a stream or river, making life uncomfortable, or even intolerable, for some species of fish.

Wendy Scribner of UNH Cooperative Extension and Farmington landowner Art LeClair described how best management practices in privately owned forests provide benefits to landowners as well as to the watershed because they increase forest uses and profitability. One of the challenges is fragmentation — the average parcel of land has decreased from 120 to 40 acres over a few decades.

LeClair's advice to landowners included "Walk the land often" and "Keep good records."

Amanda Stone, Cooperative Extension specialist in Land and Water Conservation, and Milton Mills landowners Janice and Tim Long, went on to discuss conservation easements and how they protect our natural resources. The Longs thanked MMRG for their assistance in the process of conserving their acreage.

The presentation wrapped up with Dan Wright, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), who gave information about NRCS programs available for landowners to access funding and technical assistance for best management practices of forest, wildlife, agriculture, and water resources.

Due to the noted risk of degradation of the Salmon Falls Watershed (SFW), applicants for NRCS funding from the SFW area will be given priority in the funding process.

After the panel, participants met one-on-one with exhibitors and panelists to discuss their

individual needs for forest management programs.

For more information regarding forest conservation in New Hampshire, please see the website of the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative, www.prep.unh.edu/sfwc.htm, which lists the contact information of all participating organizations.

Another similar program is planned in Acton, Maine at the Town Hall from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7. For more information regarding the upcoming Maine event, contact Melissa Brandt of York County Soil and Water Conservation District at (207) 324-0888, ext. 214.

(Rochester Times editor John Nolan contributed to this story.)

Acton-Wakefield Watersheds Alliance making progress

By JOHN NOLAN

jnolan[@]fosters.com

WAKEFIELD [--] The Acton-Wakefield Watershed Alliance, better known as AWWA, held its annual meeting in Wakefield Opera House on Aug. 19, voted in a slate of officers for the coming year, and presented a year-to-date financial report that showed growing support among the residents of the two communities as gauged by donations from individuals and lake associations.  The meeting was followed by a tour of several Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) project sites where the common aim of the work is to reduce erosion and sediment through storm-water from running into the seven lakes within the watershed and thus prevent degradation of the water quality. AWWA Executive Director Linda Schier, after listing the organization's accomplishments in the past 12 months, told a score of attendees, "The lakes offer many gifts [--] beauty, recreation, ecological integrity and they are<$> the industry in this region. It is our job to speak for them, work to protect them and help keep the economic engine stable for now and for generations to come. How we use and care for the land is the key to preserving these priceless assets."

Dick DesRoches was reelected president of AWWA, Pat Theisen will continue to serve as secretary, Jeanne Achille will be vice president and Jon Samuelson will act as treasurer for the coming year. Carol Lafond will serve a three-year term as a director. Other board members include Don Chapman, Charles Hodsdon, Marcia Hodsdon and Glenn Wildes.

Among the year's accomplishments listed by Schier, were the kick-off of the Clean Lakes Campaign, working with UNH personnel and the towns to implement road management plans for Brackett and Pond roads, writing newsletter articles, giving nine presentations to Paul School students, and updates to the various lake associations, monitoring water quality throughout the watershed, presentations on AWWA's work to regional and state groups and increasing membership of the organization.

AWWA Program Manager Dustin Johnson told the meeting that the YCC has completed 18 projects to date with one more winding up.  "We have installed 84 Best Management Practices with two more planned. The projects were spread across seven lakes [--] one on Pine River Pond, three on Province, two on Balch, five on Wilson, three on Lovell, two on Horn, and three on Great East). Thirteen of the projects were done in the Salmon Falls watershed while six were done in the Saco watershed," said Johnson adding, "The BMPs installed will prevent about 46 tons of sediment per year and 39 lbs. of phosphorus per year from entering the lakes."  The meeting then adjourned to take a tour of five YCC projects completed over the summer.

Dustin Johnson joined AWWA in November of 2010. He graduated with a BS in Earth Sciences in 2008 and a MS in Earth Sciences and Geochemistry in 2010 from the University of Maine. His focus centered on the geochemical interactions of soil nutrients, specifically organic matter, phosphorus, and iron, in lakes and rivers. Dustin brings experience with teaching, water chemistry research, grant proposals, peer review for scientific publications, and soil sampling and analysis.

As Program Manager at AWWA, Dustin oversees the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) and outreach activities designed to highlight the connections between land use and water quality. He will also provide oversight of the volunteer water quality monitoring on the Salmon Falls headwater lakes. Dustin has been trained in Landscaping at the Water’s Edge, Basic and Advanced Erosion Control, rain garden construction, and GIS mapping.

Contact Dustin at djohnson@AWwatersheds.org or (603) 473-2500 for assistance keeping your property lake friendly.